ICYMIM: July 3, 2017

Source One's series for keeping up with the most recent highlights in procurement, sourcing, and supply chain news week to week. To stay updated on the latest supply management articles, check in with us every Monday.

As the procurement function has developed and become a more strategic role, professionals in this space are emphasizing their capabilities and how they surpass traditional understandings of procurement. Experienced professionals in the industry who understand how procurement is viewed by other functions in an organization work to demonstrate how it has advanced and the value it has the potential to deliver beyond cost savings. This article evaluates the employers of choice for procurement experts today, and considers why these specific organizations are preferred by top procurement talent.

Raw material buyers are influenced by a variety of factors when purchasing in this specific category, and as the market fluctuates regularly there are certain irregularities that raise our concern as sourcing professionals. Currently there is a demand for local sources of supply due to a decline in Chinese steel exports and increase in domestic use. In addition, recent politics have utilized areas of the Trade Act of 1962 to evaluate which nations the U.S relies on as suppliers for steel and other materials. For this reason, ThomasNet suggests identifying secondary or tertiary raw material suppliers to prevent potential future disruptions in your organization's supply chain.

Extensive sourcing engagements typically result in the selection of the most appropriate supplier that can best meet the needs of the organization. However there are still plenty of examples of long term engagements that failed to come to the best option and resulted in a poor decision. The difference often lies within who is running the event, and if they are experienced procurement professionals or stakeholders from their own function that may be less experienced with the process. In this article, Dominick evaluates a case study where the new supplier selected had no experience in the specific category and therefore recruited employees from the incumbent to perform the same service.

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